No that is not too much to ask, but given that TEPaul is simply parroting someone else's book I have no idea what he could add to such a conversation. But perhaps Mr. Goddard provided detailed sources, so I guess TEPaul could at least provide us with that. He hasn't so far though, so it is not really a matter of "confirming" or "reverifying" anything on his part, because so far we have nothing to confirm or reverify.
As for the particular claims TEPaul has made, I have no faith that those are actually Mr. Goddard's conclusions, but if TEPaul wants to come up with the UNDERLYING EVIDENCE for the claims, whatever their source, then by all means let's see the EVIDENCE
For example, TEPaul claims that Dunn did not come to the United States until 1894. I'd like to see the UNDERLYING EVIDENCE for that claim, because there are numerous contemporaneous reports of Dunn at Shinnecock in 1893. I don't have have my sources available, but I can tell you off the top of my head that . . .
- Dunn and Davis played a match in Newport in or around July of 1893, in the rain, and that the match was mentioned in the New York and Rhode Island papers. This was discussed in the text above, but TEPaul apparently skipped that part.
- I can also tell you that sometime near the beginning of the summer 1893 season (May?) the New York Times reported that the course was almost ready, and and that "Mr. Dum" of Biarritz was in charge and would act as greenskeeper, club maker, and instructor.
- I can also tell you that there are other accounts of Dunn as the pro at Shinnecock, including one mentioning that he had accidently taken the key to the building in which the golf lockers were located with him to Shinnecock, and another mentioning that Dunn lengthened the course for 1893.
All of these are for 1893, so I have no idea why TEPaul would try to claim that Dunn was not even there until 1894. (Actually I have a good idea why he might claim this, but it has nothing to do with verifiable facts.)
Likewise, I'd love to see the UNDERLYING EVIDENCE that Davis was the pro at Shinnecock in 1892, and that he expanded the course to twelve holes that season. It was reported in at least one of the NY papers that John Cuthbert of St. Andrews was the pro at Shinnecock in 1892, not Davis. And another report indicateD that the course was 9 holes in 1892, and the listing of the yardages indicate that they were the same as in the map above.
In fact, I'd like to see the UNDERLYING EVIDENCE for anything and everything TEPaul has claimed. But there is little chance of that happening.
Just watch.